Anchor for submarine mines.



G. RBLIA. n ANCHOR FOR SUBMARINE MINES.

APPLIUA'TION FILED Nov. za. 1912.

Patented May 5, 1914.

-\ TD srarwi:

orovaNNr EMANUELE ELIA, or rams, FRANCE, AssIGNon 'ro Vromans LIMITED,

or WEsrMINs'rEn, ENGLAND.

ANCHOR FQR SUBMARINE YJBIIIN'ES.

Patented May 5, 1914.,

Application led November 23, 1912. Serial No. 733,119.

To all 'whom it may concern.' i

Be it known that I, GIOVANNI EMANUELE ELIA, a subject of the King of Italy, of

' sired position at the bottom of the sea in.

Aing is a s'pecication.l

Hotel. de Crillon, Place de la Concorde,

Paris, in the Republic of France, gentle-w man, have `invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to Anchors forSubmarineMines, of which the follow- This invention has for its object an'automaticanchor for submarine mines intended to permit of automatically locking the mooring winch when this anchor reaches the deorder to render the length of the mooring cable independent'of eventual displacements vor the anchor, underthe influence of currents Vor other causes'.

The `accompanying drawing'isa vertical axial section of a submarine mine provided vwith the anchor 1n accordance with the 1nvention. v

.The anchor a is connected with the mine I I) of any construction 4by a cable c 'which is support mintegral-with-the anchor. At its lower part this frame comprises a rod n upon which the fixing loop o of the cable p of a lead g, of usual construction bears; this lead is' maintained in the proper position in the anchor by doors 1' which openautomatically.

The rod n is integral with a plunger piston s which a spring t bearing on the bottom. of a cylinder u constantly tends to maintain inthe position represented in the drawing. ln this positionthe lower angle of the piston scomes -fl'ush with a 'perforation 'v in -which a spring bolt m' is housed Upon the rod n there is fixed a tappet y of suitable construction located opposite a.

toothed ring e carried by oneof the cheeks Aof the winch drum d.

The operation is as follows: When the mine is placed in the water with its anchor the two parts of the door r assume the position illustrated in broken lines and the lead g escapes from its housing and exerts a .tion of the latter and the unwinding of the certain'ainount of traction on the rod n.

Aslthe latterl is held in'place by the block z' it remains motionless. The parts other than the. lead g then-occupy the position re resented in the drawing; t-he anchor aA escends under the'inuence of gravity and the tappet y being held at a suit-able distance from the teeth .e of the ring ofthe drum. d the latter is able to rotate freely solely Acon'- trolled by the brake g andthe cable c unwinds. When the cable o has unwound to a certain extent, that is vto sayv when the winch d has effected a 'certain number of rotations, the. block which is prevented from rotating -by its frame -y' has moved upon the threaded extremity h until it is disengaged rom this frame y'. As the. rod 1cm. is no longer supported it obeys the action of the lead g' and descends still farther'while continuing to permit of the free rotation of the drum d. When the lead g touches the sea-bottom its action is no longer exerted upon the rod/7c n and tl'ie action of the spring t becoming preponderating acts upon the piston s and presses upward the assemblage constituted by this piston and .the rod k n.

The tappet y then engages withthe teeth z of the Winch ol thus interrupting the rota'- cable o. Furthermore as the lower angle of the piston 's completely uncovers the orifice o the bolt a: under the influence-of its spring comes beneath this piston thereby eiicaciously preventing any subsequent descent` thereof or ofits rod lc n. The winch d is thus firmly locked and the length of the t mooring cable c is limited to the length that. it presented when the lead g touched the seabottom. From this moment even if the anchor a is displaced under the influence of a current or. for any other reason, even if the lead g should exert an'y action upon rod 7cm, it` can no longer cause the latter to descend as it is supported bythe bolt m in such a. manner thatthe winch (l is locked permanently and themine 'remains invari ably at the depth assigned to it.

This arrangement presents Athe advantage' o'finsuringA the desired mooring depth for submarine mines notwithstanding the eventual presence of currents or eddies and it also 't prevents the locking actionA from making itself felt at the moment of placing the mine inl the water when the mine and its anchor may receive more or less violent oscillations arising either from the state ofthe sea or from the inevitable shocks imparted to they certaine the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. An anihor for submarine mines, comprising a mooring winch having its cable connected with the mine, locking means for directly engaging the mooring winch to lock the same against rotation, and an automatic.

i stop for preventing said locking means from becoming operative under the oscillations of the mine and its anchor when first placed inthe water.

2. An anchor for submarine` mines, comprising a mooring winch having its shaft provided with a threaded portion at its end,

' 30 a frame having an opening, a polygonalblock normally housed. in said opening in the frame and screwing on the threaded end of said shaft, a rod integral with said frame, Y a tappet carried by said rod for engaging between teeth carried by the drum of the moorin winch, a piston integral with said rod an a spring controlling said piston and tending to press the piston and rod upward to bring the tappet into the locking posi- 40 tion.

3. In an anchor for submarine mines, a mooring winch, a locking device for the mooringwinch, a piston forming partof` said lockin device a housin for said is- A ton, having a'perforation 'formed therein, a

spring tending to press said piston in a direction to cause the locking device to lock the mooring winch,'and a safety stop for the lockin device comprisin a spring bolt 0 housed in iihe perforation of t e pistonhousing.'

4'. An anchor for submarine mines, comrising a mooring winch, a locking device or the mooring winch, an automaticstopfor normally preventing said lockingV device from becoming operative, Athe said stopV being` actuated bythe rotation of the mooring winch to release said locking device after a certain number of rotations to permit Vthe locking device to move into locking position.,

5. An anchor for submarinemines, havL ing a mooring winch, a cablewound on the winch and connected with the mine, the winch having its drum provided with teeth the shaft of said winch having a threade end portion, a vertically movable-frame having an opening, a polygonal-block normally housed in said opening and screwing on the end of said shaft, the said block being moved onl said shaft during the rotation ofthe winch to release'the said frame, a rod connected with the lower part of said frame,

a ltappet carried by said rod for engaging between teeth of the drum, a weight connected by a cable'l with the saidrod and 75 adapted to exert traction thereon, a piston connected with said rod, a spring for press. ing the piston and rod upward, whenl the Weight reaches the sea bottom, to bring lthe tappet into the locking position, and means for maintaining the tappet in the locking position. r

6. An anchor for submarine mines having v a mooring winch,l a cable wound. on the winch and connected with lthe mine, a spring controlled locking device having a member adapted to engage the mooring winch to lock the same against rotation, and means for preventing said locking device from beconr' ing operative when the mine and its anchor are first placed in the water, the said means being actuated by the rotation of the mooring winch to release said lockingdevice to permit the same to" move into locking position under the action of its spring. 95,l

In testimony whereof I have hereunto placed my hand at Southampton 'Buildings in the county of London England this fourteenth day of November 1912.

GIovnNNI EMANUELEELI A.

In the presence of two witnesses:

THos. F. HAnonnAvEs, T. SELBYWARDLE. 

